INTRODUCTION: The demands of alpine skiing are complex and require special abilities. Currently one publication is known examining the relationship between anthropometric, motor characteristics and ranking position in 13-16 year old skiers (Álvarez-San Emeterio & González-Badillo, 2010). No data is available for younger skiers. The Austrian Ski Federation initiated the Kids Cup in 2004/05 as a talent scouting tool for 10-11 year old ski racers. The aim of this study was to analyse correlations between race results, ski technique and physical fitness at the final races of the Kids Cup 2009 & 2010. METHODS: 45 female and 44 male ski racers (10-11 years of age) took part in this study. The physical fitness test battery consisted of two agility tests (jump coordination (JC), hurdle boomerang run (HBR)), one balance test (MFT S3 check), one power lest (Counter Movement Jump (CMJ)), one speed test (leg tappings (LT)) and one flexibility test (stand and reach (SRT)). For technique evaluation the race was filmed with 2 video cameras and 8 experienced ski coaches rated the ski technique of each skier. Race performance was identified by the race finish position. The relationships between fitness, ski technique and ranking position were determined by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficients. To identify variables importance in predicting racing performance ordinal regression analysis (Nagelkerke R²) was used. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. The analysed parameters explained well the variance of male ranking position (Nagelkerke R²=0.701). Ski technique (p=0.000**) and CMJ (p=0.017**) were the best predicting parameters. For females no such regression model could be calculated. DISCUSSION: Ski technique and race ranking were moderately related with the boys, but weakly related with the girls. Other performance-determining factors such as ski preparation, mental factors or anthropometnc parameters may have a greater influence on race performance for young female ski racers. In agreement with Álvarez-San Emeterio & González-Badillo (2010), CMJ was associated with race position in males, but the older skiers showed higher correlations than the younger racers. CONCLUSSION: In Austria talent scouting in the 10-11 year age group is based predominantly on race results. Coaches should focus on the technical and physical development of young ski racers, because technique and fitness become more important with age, and it is very difficult to improve these qualities if a good foundation has not been laid.
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